Oh, the holidays, you guys. Every year, I say NEXT YEAR I am going to start shopping in January. And then.
Things are... expensive.
We have FIVE CHILDREN, and even if we only buy a modest amount of things for them (spoiler: NOT OUR STYLE), those things add up fast. And older kids! The things they want cost more! It is SO EASY to make all of Minnie's Amazon toy catalog dreams come true, but then a kid is like OH HEY LOOK AT THIS AWESOME CAMERA I WANT and ...
I think when we are done with Santa (SOB), things will be easier because we won't feel like there has to be any sort of parity. Right now, we make sure everyone has the same amount of things to unwrap, and when our kids are all older and understand markets (LOL), it will be easier to be like oh yes we bought this persona many cheap things. But you can enjoy your (INSERT RIDICULOUS EXTRAVAGANCE HERE).
Thinking more about spending this year, though, I realize that we are just sort of spendy all the time, which is why we have a cozy house and mid-line cars and take small trips. WE LIKE TO BUY STUFF, and that's ok. We like giant Christmases, and that's FINE. So, we have to appreciate the process, if that makes sense. No reason to hem and haw and worry about money flying out the door when we KNOW it will happen, and we LIKE the result.
Something I CAN be better at, though, is the spur of the moment splurges. Like buying Minnie a new leotard for her mini holiday dance (and also buying Dorothy xmas legwarmers and a sparkly headband so she, too, can dress festively.) Yes, that's only $20/kid, but also it is POINTLESS MONEY to spend. It has been really cold, so I have driven Dorothy and Coop to school the past few days-- and also bought them hot chocolate and treats on the way. Another $30. $20 for smart plugs for our outdoor Christmas lights. $20 for a non-obtrusive extension cord for Ben to use when he WFH so we don't trip over his cord and die. $30 for Jack and Dorothy to troll Target together (they bought cozy socks and a holiday mini-waffle maker). $100 on clothes for Coop because we cannot wait another second for him to COVER UP HIS ANKLES MY GOD). Minnie said she wanted to pierce her ears, and I was $150 poorer before you could say HEGEMONY.
And THEN! It HURT and she was a bit traumatized, so she wanted a treat and I was like um actually that expensive ordeal WAS the treat. So we went to the grocery store for frozen pizza and stuff to make blueberry muffins instead of going out to lunch (WINNING! Sort of ).
But seriously! Pierced ears!! (The fancy mall in our town got a Rowan-- a piercing place that uses nurses! And is adorable! When her earrings are ready come out, we can make an appointment to have a nurse take them out and put in her first regular pair-- so great!)
Awww, look at your brave little cutie pie!
ReplyDeleteOlder kids' gifts are SO EXPENSIVE. We are replacing some old and no-longer-working-great electronics for our kid this Christmas and I was like THAT'S IT... but electronics don't necessarily spell Christmas Magic, you know? At least not when you are eleven and still THINK you like toys.
Pierced ears, so fun! I had no idea that was a $150 thing though, but then it's been a while.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's the holidays, and you know what, we spend what we spend. Five kids does equal a lot of gifties under the tree!
I get it- I like to have big Christmases too! And I know how expensive that is with two kids, so I can just imagine what it's like with five! I say- if you have the money and this is what you want to spend it on, then go for it. Why not??? If you were going into debt to have a big Christmas, I might think twice (but I don't think you are.)
ReplyDeleteMinnie!!!!!!! Ha, so cute- as always.
"before you could say HEGEMONY" LOL. Yes, I've always gone pretty overboard on christmas presents, it brings me joy and my kids are unfailingly grateful, so....
ReplyDeleteLOLed at your insertion of hegemony. We have four kids and thanks to my very frugal husband we don't go all out, but even NOT going all out means a LOT of money. Our older two are each getting one big gift and a few smaller ones. Our younger ones are easier and cheaper to buy for. One thing I refuse to skimp on is teacher gifts. Our kids go to public school in NC where teachers are paid a dismal salary. SOOOO many teachers but I give each at least a $25 gift card. The really special ones get $50. Across four kids with a ton of teachers that adds up to about $500. No regrets.
ReplyDeleteAmazing. YAY for pierced ears!!! L got her at her 5 year physical appointment, ay her pediatrician, about $60. She wore surgical steel for about a year then transitioned to regular earrings. I saw her not wearing earring the other day so I go "you'd better put some earrings in; I'm not paying another $60 to get your ears pierced again!" LOL
ReplyDeleteChristmas gifts are expensive and KIDS COST SO MUCH MONEY and yada, yada, yada.
ReplyDeleteSARAH - WHEN DID YOU GET THESE AMAZING FAMILY PICS DONE. Have I been visiting your blogs for months and missing these? I was so used to the stairway pic (which was magic), and these are equally divine. I NEED DETAILS. I will be embarrassed if you have already posted details and I managed to miss them.
thank you! my friend opened a photog studio, and she is obviously amazing. These are my holiday card pics, so I haven't posted them until the cards were in the wild
DeleteLOVE THEM. And since our postal service is shut down forever...I will not get a card from you any time soon so I am DELIGHTED to see these pics.
DeleteGosh Minnie is looking so grown up! Pierced ears! What a big girl. Given the outrage over the 3 vaccinations Will got at his appt last week, I can’t even fathom him asking to get his ears pierced. Seriously the outrage over the shots was NEXT LEVEL.
ReplyDeleteIt’s good that you and Ben are on the same page about how you do holidays, though. You both want over the top with lots of gifts. Having that kind of compatibility is so essential. Can you imagine arguing over that every Christmas while you had kids? But I imagine many couples do argue about it! It’s not like anyone tells you to talk about your spending comparability when dating. Phil and I are on the other end of the spectrum and are very much minimalists about gifts. I dream about a time when we can just skip gifts and go on a trip instead. But the kids need to be considerably older before we can pull that off! The no more Santa stage does not seem that far off for us, though. Paul has been really asking questions the last 2 years. He’s such a questioner like dad. When we went to our church’s tree lighting with Santa and reindeer he mumbled ‘well he’s not real’ and I gave him a ‘be quiet’ kind of look. But I think the gig is up for him and he’s not even 7!! Hopefully Will is not as much of a questioner because I really enjoy the magic and mystery of Santa.
My parents always warned us there would be very little for Christmas and then they always went big. Minnie has her ears pierced and then it hurt and she wanted a treat. Too funny.
ReplyDeleteMy nephews are 9 and 16 and hoo boy, they have some expensive gifts on their Christmas lists. They are old enough that we can say that "hey, if you want a $300 baseball bat, you're not going to get much else for Christmas..." so at least they understand that! My younger nephew asked for Apple Vision Pro and my brother laughed and laughed and laughed.
ReplyDeleteMinnie looks so grown up with her ears pierced! What a fun milestone. :)
This is not your first rodeo, so likely you know this, but telling you anyway...check the back of Minny's ears. When Maya got her ears pierced (in middle school, she was older) all they told her was that she had to turn the earring all of the time, which she did. Which did not stop the BACK OF HER EAR GROWING OVER THE EARRING BACK. OMG. She was fine, was fine, was fine, and then one day it hurt to turn the earring, and then it was hot and very painful. The doctor cut the back of her ear to fix it, it wasn't that bad, but OMG. I had no idea that could happen. Also, when they said how they were going to treat it, she misunderstood and thought they were going to cut her ear off without anesthesia. My baby!
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